Honours List Award Winning Essay
How do countries use “economic and cultural influence” (soft power) to achieve “political goals”?
Joseph Nye defines soft power as the ability of a nation-state to get what it wants through ‘attraction rather than coercion or payments.’ He further identifies three pillars that sustain this power: culture, political values, and foreign policy (Nye, 2004). This essay compares the diverse methods of economic and cultural influence exerted by the USSR and the USA during the Cold War to achieve their common goal of global ideological dominance. It analyses how the USA’s strategy aligned with Nye’s framework, making its soft power a political weapon for achieving goals.
To establish the first pillar, the Soviet Union proclaimed values of discipline and intellectual superiority through excellence in ballet and chess (COMRADE Gallery, 2025). Simultaneously, rigorous state-sponsored initiatives, like the artistic expression of socialist realism, were used to depict a utopian socialist society that promoted the values of collectivism and hard work. (Encyclopaedia Britannica, n.d.). However, the USSR’s severely censored artwork contrasted with the creative freedom of American culture, evident in the free-spirited nature of jazz music. Moreover, ‘The American Dream’ promised a life inaccessible in socialist states: individual freedom, prosperity, and choice. This was weaponised through the USA’s pre-existing cinematic weapon, Hollywood, that allured audiences towards ‘the American way of living’ (Schulz, 2011). Meanwhile, adopting a multidimensional approach, the USSR had grown its influence in the Global South through educational institutions and translation of great Russian classics to local languages, producing an ethos that admired the Russian culture (Amarasinghe, 2019). Through effective cultural influence, both countries garnered a global audience for their respective cultures and political values.
Media outlets proved central to reaching this audience. Though the USSR used Pravda to glorify a classless society, it lost credibility as propaganda claims mounted. Taking advantage of the obliviousness of the citizens of socialist states, the USA aimed to gain access to them through media and spread their own propaganda. (Dewey, 2021). Poland’s first post-communist president later acknowledged the immeasurable impact of the USA’s underground radio channels (Council on Foreign Relations Education, 2023). Additionally, the attractiveness of a country’s economic model also shaped global perceptions of ideology. The USSR’s economic stagnation in the late 1980s ended much of the Third World’s admiration. In contrast, the American Dream of freedom and growth portrayed the USA’s model as desirable, enhancing the appeal of its political values (Amarasinghe, 2019).
The USA reinstated its reputation through its foreign aid programs, especially the European Recovery Program or the Marshall Plan. Through this, the USA established new capitalist markets, effectively preventing the spread of communism in the West. In response, the USSR launched its own economic foreign aid incentive, the Molotov Plan, which aimed to rebuild the economies of Soviet-aligned Eastern European countries. Yet, this was widely interpreted as a transaction: imposition of communist ideology for money. Conversely, the USA painted itself as a bystander philanthropist to European agency, cementing the USA’s foreign policy as altruistic and humanitarian, effectively achieving the third pillar within Nye’s framework (History.com Editors, 2009).
Hence, although both the USA and USSR used different means to expand influence, only the former used them in accordance with Nye’s criteria. The Cold War proves that soft power can only be used as a political weapon when it aligns with cultural accessibility, political credibility, and voluntary partnership, the 3 pillars of Nye’s framework.
References:
Nye, J. (2004) Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. New York: PublicAffairs.
Amarasinghe, P. (2019) ‘Reminiscence of Soviet soft power and the way it influenced the Global South’, Modern Diplomacy, 2 November. Available at: https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2019/11/02/reminiscence-of-soviet-soft-power-and-the-way-it-influenced-the-global-south/ (Accessed: 17 September 2025).
COMRADE Gallery (2025) ‘Curtains of Creativity: The Politics of Soviet Theatre, Ballet & Chess’. Available at: https://www.comradegallery.com/journal/curtains-of-creativity-the-politics-of-soviet-theatre-ballet-chess (Accessed: 17 September 2025).
Dewey, Drake C., “Was Soft Power used during the Cold War?” (2021). Capstone Showcase. 7 https://scholarworks.arcadia.edu/showcase/2021/pgl/7
Schulz, M. (2011) ‘Cultural Diplomacy: The Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War’, Arcadia ScholarWorks Showcase. Available at: https://scholarworks.arcadia.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1414&context=showcase (Accessed: 17 September 2025).
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